Houston Rockets Acquire Chris Paul in Trade With Clippers
In the past few days, the Houston Rockets have suddenly emerged as a legitimate threat to sign All-Star point guard Chris Paul in free agency. But as it turns out, they didn't even have to wait until he hits the open market to acquire him.
The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski has reported that Paul has agreed to opt in to the final year of his contract and now he's heading to Houston in exchange for Patrick Beverley, Lou Williams, Sam Dekker, Montrezl Harrell, DeAndre Liggins, Darrun Hilliard, Kyle Wiltjer, a top-three protected 2018 first-round pick and $661,000 cash.
That's quite a haul for the Clippers. They would have lost Paul for nothing if he decided to opt out instead. Of course, the Rockets would still have to clear some cap space to sign Paul if they hadn't traded for him.
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"Any day you can acquire a Hall of Fame-level player is a good day for the franchise," Rockets general manager Daryl Morey said, according to ESPN.
"... It's a weapons race in the NBA, and you're either in the weapons race or on the sidelines. We felt with Harden in his prime, Chris Paul in his prime, this gives us a real shot to chase the juggernaut teams that are out there and puts us right there with them," he added.
ESPN's Michael Eaves revealed that Paul's relationship with Clippers president/head coach Doc Rivers started to deteriorate when he acquired his son, Austin Rivers, in a three-team trade back in 2014. Rivers reportedly treated his son differently from the other players and it led to resentment within the locker room.
Eaves also said that the New York Knicks were actually willing to send Carmelo Anthony and Sasha Vujačić to the Clippers last season, and they wanted Jamal Crawford, Paul Pierce and Austin Rivers to go the other way. Unfortunately, Rivers turned down the deal. That convinced Paul that Rivers thought keeping his son was more important than upgrading the roster.
Now, Paul is gone and the Clippers will have to shake up their roster. On the other hand, the Rockets just acquired one of the best point guards in the league to pair with James Harden.
